What Are Vitamins, and How Do They Work?

Your body needs nutrition, and foods don’t always supply the nutrients your body needs. An excellent way to supplement your nutrition is by taking vitamins regularly. Family Nurse Practitioner Gloria Orellana at La Vida Health in Temple Terrace, FL, provides a wide range of medical and wellness services, including vitamin supplementation.

What You Need To Know About Vitamins

Vitamins are organic substances that help your body function. Vitamins can help:

• Make your metabolism run efficiently
• Boost your immune system
• Increase your body’s ability to heal itself

Vitamins Also Help You Look Your Best. Vitamins Can Help:

• Make your skin look younger
• Maintain good vision

Vitamins come in two types, fat-soluble, and water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and fatty tissue, which can accumulate to toxic levels if you take too much. Water-soluble vitamins do not accumulate to toxic levels and are excreted in the urine.

• Fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E, and K
• Water soluble vitamins are vitamins B and C

So, what is each vitamin's recommended daily allowance (RDA)?

• Vitamin A-700 micrograms for women and 900 micrograms for men
• Vitamin B1- 1.1 milligrams (mg)
• Vitamin B2 - 1.1 mg
• Vitamin B3-14 mg
• Vitamin B5- 5 mg
• Vitamin B6-1.3 mg
• Vitamin B12-2.4 micrograms
• Vitamin C- 90 milligrams for men and 75 milligrams for women
• Vitamin D- 15 micrograms (600 IU) for adults under the age of 70, and 20 micrograms (800 IU) for adults over the age of 70
• Vitamin E-15 milligrams daily
• Vitamin K-120 micrograms for men and 90 micrograms for women

A healthy diet is important to achieve the right amount of vitamins your body needs. Often, diet is not enough, and you need vitamin supplementation. There are several methods of vitamin supplementation:

• Vitamins in pill form, often taken as a multivitamin
• Vitamins in a solution, often in the form of a nutrition drink or shake
• IV infusion supplementation is the most efficient method to take vitamins because the vitamins go directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system.

Want To Know More?

To learn more about the benefits of vitamins and how they can help you achieve optimal health, call Gloria Orellana at La Vida Health in Temple Terrace, FL. You can reach her in the office by calling (813) 405-8058, so call today.